The Civil Rights Movement: A Struggle For Social Justice

The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice. The movement took place during the 1950’s and 1960’s for African Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United Sates. The Civil War, which took place from 1861 to 1865, had officially abolished slavery. The war abolished slavery but couldn’t end the discrimination the African Americans faced in the United Sates. They continue to undergo the devastating effects of racism. By mid to late-20th century, African Americans had had enough of the prejudice and violence against them. African Americans, along with many whites, organized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned for two decades. There was mass protest against racial segregation and discrimination …show more content…
After the American Civil War in the 1860s, the Reconstruction Amendments to the United States Constitution, sought to secure the rights of African Americans. While for a short time, African Americans voted and held political office, soon they were deprived of civil rights and subjected to sustained violence. Over the following century various efforts were made by African Americans to secure their rights. Between 1955 and 1968, acts of nonviolent protest and civil disobedience produced crisis situations and productive dialogues between activists and government authorities. Federal, state, and local governments, businesses, and communities often had to respond immediately to these situations, which highlighted the inequities faced by African Americans. An example of this would be, the lynching of Emmett Till and the visceral response to his mother's decision to have an open-casket funeral mobilized the African-American community nationwide. Other than that gruesome killing there were any other event that took place. There were protest such as the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56) in Alabama; sit-ins such as the influential Greensboro sit-ins (1960) in North Carolina and successful Nashville sit-ins in Tennessee; marches, such as the Birmingham Children's Crusade and Selma to Montgomery marches(1965) in Alabama; and a wide range of other nonviolent …show more content…
The Civil Rights Movement not only lobbied but worked with congress to achieve the passing of many significant pieces of federal legislation overturning racist practices in the United States. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 expressly banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment practices; ended unequal application of voter registration requirements; and prohibited racial segregation in schools, at the workplace, and in public accommodations. “It is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement (history.com).” Originally proposed by President Kennedy, it faced many backlashes from the southern members of congress but was late signed by Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 restored and protected voting rights for minorities by authorizing federal oversight of registration and elections in areas with a historic under-representation of minorities as voters. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 banned discrimination in the sale, financing, or rental of housing. This act was later amended in 1988; the Housing Amendments Act. This act in addition to the previous, it prohibits discrimination based on disability or on familial status and so much more. African Americans re-entered politics in the South, and across the country young people were inspired to take